What is experience really worth in college basketball?
We often hear about it, but what advantage does it really provide? Well on Super Bowl Sunday in Atlanta against a pesky Georgia Tech squad, the Miami Hurricanes showed what experience can do for you.
Behind strong performances from Sheldon McClellan and Davon Reed, the Canes showed their late-game poise and held off a strong upset bid from Georgia Tech to pull out a 75-68 victory.
For all but those solid last few minutes, the game looked like a carbon copy of almost any Miami road game in the ACC this season. A sluggish start, sloppy turnovers and some lapses in concentration on the defensive end, it’s a pattern that Canes fans seen over and over the past month. Considering all of those struggles though, the Canes miraculously led by one at the half and that had to do almost entirely with the play of McClellan and Reed.
The two wingers for this Miami team didn’t start too hot in Atlanta, but after they got into the flow of the game midway through the first half, they gave the Canes the type of performance your need from your leaders on the road. Whether it was McClellan nailing three-pointers or Reed slashing in the paint, the two pulled the Hurricanes out of a hole and into the lead going into the second half.
With Angel Rodriguez in foul trouble and not contributing much besides a few alley-oops, it came down to those two as well as Ja’Quan Newton (14 points) to lead the team to victory after the break. Even with the strong efforts from the Canes, Georgia Tech just wouldn’t go away. When Miami would gain momentum and look ready to pull away, Tech would get a three from leading scorer Marcus Georges-Hunt or Adam Smith. It was the type of game I’m not sure this team last year could have won.
The two teams went back-and-forth until the Canes finally got the decisive momentum swing they had been searching for all game. With 1:49 left in the game, the shot clock ticked down on a Miami possession and as Newton dribbled to the corner unaware of the time left, the sophomore point guard got a shout from the bench and hit a turnaround, fadeaway three as the 30-second clock expired. The shot got a roar from the Hurricanes bench right next to Newton and with not much time remaining, the Canes went up 66-60.
Georgia Tech hit a layup on the other end, but the Yellow Jackets and the home faithful looked discouraged as time began to work against them. To extend the game further, Head Coach Brian Gregory ordered his team to begin fouling the Canes with 52 seconds left, but against an experienced Miami team, that wasn’t a very smart decision.
Over those next 52 seconds, the Canes hit nine of ten free throws despite struggling from the charity stripe earlier in the game and the Yellow Jackets just couldn’t ever recover. McClellan finished with 22 points and Reed finished with 15 points as the Hurricanes got their second ACC road win of the season.
For a younger team on the road, those free throws late in the game are nerve-racking and often don’t end too well. For a team like Miami though, that experience was shining as they happily took their free points and walked away with the victory.
For how much people have complained about this team this year, you look up and they now trail North Carolina at the top of the ACC standings by just one game and sit with an overall record of 18-4. Not too many teams can claim that type of success in this wacky year of college basketball.
With Louisville now out of the way due to a self-imposed postseason ban, the Hurricanes can really start thinking about the chances of an ACC Regular Season title. Of course there is plenty of basketball left and Miami faces their fair-shar of tough opponents down the stretch, but the way this team plays in the big games, that doesn’t bother me.
This game against Georgia Tech won’t be a resume-builder, but it shows that come March when this team is facing a difficult situation, their poise and calmness down the stretch will lead the way.
People talk about experience being the golden ticket to success in college basketball, but that’s sometimes hard to see. When watching Miami close down the stretch Sunday afternoon against Georgia Tech, that golden ticket of college basketball was crystal clear.